``I am so excited to be part of the LGBTQIA+ research project. This research is much needed.``

To inform our Level 5 in Counselling for Trauma (see here for details), New Pathways carried out a piece of research on the suvivors’ experiences of counselling. This research was funded by Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales and supported by the University of South Wales.

Our aim was to understand the counselling experience by gathering the views of male and female adults who accessed counselling at New Pathways.

The overview of the research is documented here (click image below):

A key finding of the research carried out by Debbie Woodroffe, (Head of Training and Research at New Pathways) and Dr Susan Roberts (Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy, Swansea University) above, was the consistent – and concerning – feature of participants having reached ‘crisis point’ before seeking support. There were many narratives from people accessing sexual violence support services of being ‘unable to cope’; feeling unable to manage ‘flashbacks’; having ‘constant memories of the abuse’; and ‘suicidal thoughts.’

See a poster of the main findings here (click image below):

New Pathways sits on the VAWDASV Research Network Wales.

The VAWDASV (Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence) Research Network Wales was co-founded by Dr Sarah Wallace, Senior Research Fellow at the Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care (WIHSC), and Dr Emily Underwood-Lee, Associate Professor of Performance Studies at the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling at USW.

It is supported by the Faculty of Creative Industries and PRIME Centre Wales, and is governed by a core group of academics, policy makers, and practitioners from the VAWDASV sector in Wales. It will also be supported by a dedicated member of staff from the Wales Violence Prevention Unit at Public Health Wales.

The aim of the network is to develop an inclusive research community for Wales that provides a safe, open forum to bring together those who are working towards an end to VAWDASV to set the future research agenda, foster collaboration and develop grant applications, undertake high quality research, and work towards the elimination of VAWDASV.

You can watch the launch event for the network here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVy3B4VtrQU  

And find more information on their Twitter, here: https://twitter.com/VAWDASVWales